1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to a rotary non-contact controller. In particular, the invention pertains to an optical navigation system with at least two degrees of freedom.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the prior art, there are many kinds of rotary controller devices. However, it has been difficult to design practical controllers with sufficient size and resolution for certain applications. In addition, it has been difficult to design a rotary controller with at least two degrees of freedom, one rotational, and the other with an axis perpendicular to the axis of rotation. For example, a large rotary control wheel on jog CD players for disc jockey applications generally does not have sufficient resolution and only a single degree of freedom.
In addition, contact controller have had substantial maintenance concerns as “contact” of the moving parts inherently causes wear and tear.